How Highways Squeezed Taxable Land Out of Cities
| | 38 Comments
Downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut, lost 20 percent of its taxable land when highways came through. That's just the beginning.
Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Connecticut
Here’s a First: Hartford’s Downtown Now Offers Free Roadside Assistance for Cyclists
| | 2 Comments
Bicyclists in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, have a new option if they need repairs on the go -- the area's business improvement district has launched a first-of-its-kind roadside assistance program.
Downtown Hartford Marries Parking Meter Reform With Car-Free Streets
| | 4 Comments
Pratt Street is a narrow, one-way block-long street in the heart of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, lined with red brick pavers and historic storefronts. It's also the latest street in the United States to go car-free, at least some of the time, as part of the city's first agreement to spend parking meter revenue on local streetscape improvements.
What the Results of 8 Governors’ Races Mean for Cities and Transit
| | 8 Comments
Yesterday’s elections returned some of the nation’s most anti-urban, anti-transit governors to power in races where they were supposed to be vulnerable. Pro-transit candidates were unexpectedly routed in some states, though a few did manage to hang on. For more background on these races, check out yesterday’s election preview. Here’s what to expect going forward. […]
Parking Craters: Scourge of American Downtowns
| | No Comments
Streetsblog’s Angie Schmitt popularized the term “parking crater,” defined simply as “a depression in the middle of an urban area formed by the absence of buildings.” Various types of “meteors” left behind parking craters in the 20th century — sprawl subsidies, highway building, the erosion of manufacturing. Whatever the cause, parking craters destroy sections of downtowns and make the environment inhospitable and […]
How Hartford’s Bet on Cars Set the Stage for Population Loss and Segregation
| | No Comments
Hartford, Connecticut, has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. The urban renaissance that has visited so many cities hasn’t arrived there. Housing is still cheaper in the city than in the suburbs, and although suburban poverty is growing alarmingly fast, it’s nowhere near the levels seen in the city. There are multiple […]